Township tables pumping station plan

Commissioners want more input on $10.5 million proposal.

June 20, 2008|By Kevin Amerman Of The Morning Call

Residents in Lower Macungie on Thursday got their first look at Lehigh County Authority's $10.5 million plan for a new pumping station and sewer line system that would likely cost customers at least $6 extra per year.

During a spirited two-hour discussion on the project, some expressed concerns that it could open the area up to more development.

LCA asked the township commissioners to approve the plan, but the board instead voted unanimously to table it so it can get leaders from all affected municipalities, including Upper Macungie Township and Allentown, together for discussion.

The pumping station would be built on LCA land off Route 100 and Industrial Boulevard in Upper Macungie Township and could handle 5.5 million gallons per day. The station is designed to relieve the authority's Western Lehigh Interceptor  a sewer system that collects from portions of Lower Macungie and eight other municipalities and sends sewage to Allentown for treatment. The current system handles 7 million gallons per day. The project also proposes new sewer lines be built in Upper Macungie and Lower Macungie to provide additional capacity.

The Lower Macungie Township Planning Commission recently voted 5-0 to recommend that the township commissioners reject the plan. Planner Dennis Hinkel said the commission was mostly concerned that the extra sewage would open neighboring municipalities up to the kind of explosive growth that Lower Macungie has experienced. He said LCA's expansion years ago in the township contributed to that explosion.

"I wouldn't wish that on them," he said.

The plan is mainly being proposed because runoff and storm water, not increase sewage, has flooded into the sewer system, causing it to overflow, said LCA General Manager Aurel Arndt. He said major storm events have been increasing over the years, causing sewer backup and flooding of basements and streams. The project, he said, would reduce such flooding.

Township Engineer William Erdman recommended approval of the plan, saying without it, more overflowing could occur and the Department of Environmental Protection could put a ban or restriction on connections to the system.

The project would be constructed through a combination of authority reserves, a $1 million state grant and a $2 million low-interest loan obtained through the state, Arndt said. All residents in the service area, which includes Upper Milford, Alburtis, Macungie and parts of Emmaus among others, would be hit with a cost increase, he said. Arndt said Upper Macungie has approved the plan and besides approval from Lower Macungie, LCA needs the DEP and PennDOT to sign off on the plans.